The 16-year-old who drove a front end loader at least 22 miles from St. Paul to Hopkins and crashed it into a dealership is facing felony charges for property damage and allegedly helping two other teens steal a car from the business.

The teen was charged Monday in Ramsey County in a juvenile petition with felony theft of a motor vehicle and first degree criminal damage to property. The Star Tribune generally does not name juveniles charged with a crime.

According to the petition:

On at 10:17 a.m. March 14, St. Paul police responded to a report of a stolen John Deere front loader from Strategic Materials on Minnehaha Avenue East.

At about 4 p.m. the same day, Hopkins police responded to "significant damage" made to the front end of a car dealership, Metro Motorcars on Excelsior Boulevard, and the front end loader parked in front of the building. When officers found the teen, he had a keys to a 2012 Kia Soul in his pockets and cuts to his abdominal area.

The teen told officers he crawled under a security gate at Strategic Materials, found the tractor and got in. No key was required to start the front end loader. He drove through security fences that are estimated to cost $4,960 in damages. The teen then drove onto nearby railroad tracks, and with hazard lights on and at slow speed continued driving onto the street heading west.

In Minneapolis, the teen said an officer asked where he got the tractor from, and the teen responded that he had borrowed it.

The teen then came across the Metro Motorcars dealership where two juvenile males were looking through the cars. One asked him to break into the building, get keys to a car and steal it. After he rammed the tractor into the building, the two juveniles went inside, grabbed keys to a car and stole it.

The teen told police he didn't know what to do so he went inside the building. A police K-9 bit him after he hid inside the building and wouldn't respond to police, according to the petition.

Dealership owner John Eaton said a woman came by later on her way to pick up the teen from police and apologized on his behalf.

"She said he lives in a youth home" in St. Paul, Eaton said. "She took some pictures because she'd figured he'd brag about it."

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647

Twitter: @KarenAnelZamora